


The Only Thing

by EgoDominusTuus, ScarletPassion



Category: Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Lamplight Kids grew up, Love Triangle, M/M, Multi, POV Multiple, Polyamory, Romance, drunken kisses, eventual polyamory, more tags to come, mostly cannon, multiple POVs, unconventional family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 14:01:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6807940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgoDominusTuus/pseuds/EgoDominusTuus, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletPassion/pseuds/ScarletPassion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eclair had a kid while he was in Lamplight, and he knows that growing up in the Capital Wasteland isn't the easiest thing... but what they're both missing is MacCready. When he meets Delicia Hobbes, the simple family that he wanted to put back together becomes so much more. </p><p>--</p><p>In which an amazing polyamorous relationship eventually occurs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Only Thing

 

Big Town  _ wasn't _ what any of us had expected, the kids who'd left Lamplight. Well, the ones of us who made it there. There was no bright lights, or Oasis waiting for us there... and being a mungo was just as bad as I'd always feared it would be. Still - my mind was in one place and one place only.

  My son,  _ George _ . I couldn't think of him being left to roam the Capital Wasteland - and I couldn't imagine letting him go through Lamplight without someone to look after him. When I'd left, RJ had still been there... but RJ was gone now. I was nineteen when it was his turn to exit our old home, and though I'd meant to time it to catch the old Mayor when he left Lamplight, I'd gotten my days mixed up.

  He never showed up in Big Town.

  I had so many questions to ask, and he was the only one who I could have asked them of... worse, George had no one to look out for him anymore.

  The thought rocked hard in my chest, until I a plan began to form in my mind... and it was against everything that I'd been raised to believe. Mungos weren't  _ safe  _ to be around the kids... but I didn't  _ feel _ like a mungo. I felt like a father, worried about his son...

  I still just felt like... Eclair...

-

 

 I'd made that decision when George was only three, and I'd had to wait another four years before he peeked his head from behind the wall guarding Lamplight. Though he had Princess' hair, it was my bright blue eyes that burned with intelligence and the need to explore; I knew then that George was going to make it easier on me than I deserved. I knew that it was  _ wrong _ to take a kid out of Lamplight... but I couldn't leave him there. I just  _ wouldn't _ . And so I waited - they started the kids out young in Lamplight, and George was only seven when they took him from behind the wall for the first time. I knew they weren't taking him on a big run - they were just getting him acquainted with stepping out from behind the walls. But it was enough of a chance for me - I'd grown. I'd learned how to take out raiders and Super Mutants alike.

  Taking George from a group of children wasn't hard at all... but it sure as hell made me feel like a mungo when he struggled in my arms, and worse of one when I heard them calling his name.

 

-

 

 George fought like a hellcat for a week straight; it took that long for me to finally get him to calm down enough to listen to the fact that I was his Father. Luckily, people still regaled tales of Eclair, who used to run the best restaurant in town. Eclair, who was his Daddy, and had left like a good Lamplight kid when he turned 16. 

 They'd made it easier for me than they should have, but what shocked me the most was when George finally opened his mouth and asked me his first question that hadn't involved a string of cursing and calling me names. "If you're my Da, then where's Ma."

  For a moment, I thought he meant Princess. I opened my mouth to answer, and George went on. "I 'member his scarf. Is he with you?" And he looked so excited... and I realized that he didn't mean Princess at all.

  Robert Joseph MacCready was a mouthful for anyone to say, especially a baby. Ma was much easier... and that's what he'd called RJ. My full lips twisted into a wry smile, and I let my fingers tousle his hair - he laughed, and the sound lit my heart with warmth. "I miss him, too. What's say we find him together, George?"   
   "That sounds great, Da." And he said my name with the warmth of a kid who wasn't quite against the mungos just yet - a kid who wanted adventure, and who missed RJ's bright blue eyes.

  In truth, I did, too.

 

\--

 

It shouldn't have taken so long to make our way to the Commonwealth - I was careful though. I wasn't going to put George in any danger, and we had to walk the along the edges of rad infested areas. Throwing raiders and a group called the Gunners into the mix, and we were on tiptoe the entire way there. Those that we had to fight, we did, and we were laden with guns and ammo and a huge variety of stuff by the time we made our way into the new area.

I wasn't sure that RJ was here, but I'd heard rumors from the Caravans that a man with a green scarf and a smart ass had been seen up that way.

It was good enough for me.

The first time that we ran into a Deathclaw, my entire body froze for a moment - I remembered in stark and very vivid detail the run in that I'd had with a nest of them when I first left Lamplight - if I wanted to forget the scars that cut across the left side of my face served as a fairly constant reminder. I'd wanted their egg - I'd almost gotten away with it.

When the mother had caught up with me though, one clawed hand had ripped through my shirt, and the other had slashed hard across my face. I'd dropped the egg then, and I'd never forgiven myself for it. She threw me, and she threw me  _ hard _ . I only just managed to scramble away.

 This was within the first week of me leaving Lamplight, and I learned quickly that the world wasn't such a wonderful place.

  My tongue flicked out, playing against the edge of the scar the curled my upper lip. I let my eyes flick to George, who was silently walking beside me. He had a little pistol strapped to his hip, and I was a proud enough Father to say that he could shoot straight when it was important.

  I was also a proud enough Father to take damn near a half year to get to the Commonwealth, because I refused to go anywhere that would put George into danger. The trip should have taken three months, tops. I doubled the time, and I didn't regret it - I knew that RJ would wait... but I also knew that he wouldn't forgive me if I let anything happen to George in my eagerness to find him.

 It was better to be safe than sorry... and honestly, the thought of my kid getting hurt because I couldn't be patient wasn't something that I'd tolerate. Maybe it was because I'd spent my whole life making sure that the kids in Lamplight were fed - I'd scrimped on my own meals sometimes for it. Hell, so had RJ. But we'd always made sure that the little ones had enough to go around. I'd developed a high sense of 'give a damn' about taking care of people, and a strong will to hold out on the things that I wanted to do in return.

  They were damn handy, those skills, when you wanted to be a parent.

  We'd finally made our way into the Commonwealth, however. Honestly, it wasn't that much different to me than the Capital Wasteland - there were still ghouls and raiders and bastards alike. It wasn't hard to ask around a bit more, to hear about a merc with a green scarf, to learn that he was in a place called Goodneighbor. The fact was, I wasn't sure how to get there - the best that I could do was to head towards what was apparently the epicenter for trading and information - a place called Diamond City.

 George needed a break anyway, and maybe a meal that he could enjoy without the fear of a Deathclaw coming to take it away from him. I could only hope that the city offered the kind of protection that it was talking about.

  I really needed to sell off the mass of weapons and junk that I'd collected anyway - if RJ was really up here, George and I were going to settle in this area. I wanted to make sure that we had enough to get decent living accommodations. I didn't plan on having George out on the road forever, and maybe RJ would be willing to help out, if I could shake a bag of caps and a place to keep himself sheltered at him. I didn't know - I didn't know how much he'd changed since I'd left Lamplight. He'd cared about George then, about all of us, in his own stubborn and smartass way. He'd always made sure that the people were safe, fed, taken care of.

 There was a reason that he touted the phrase Mayor for Life and could back it. We all loved him.

~I loved him.~

 I let out a low sigh, actually carrying George now. He was a slight thing for his age, and it was easy enough for me to sling him over my hip and shoulder while keeping one hand free for shooting - I usually liked for him to be awake, to watch my ten... but he was exhausted. We'd been walking for the whole day, and the Commonwealth had some nasty radstorms. Like all of the kids from Lamplight, George wasn't too keen on the radiation.

 I wasn't either, but I guess I'd grown a bit in the way of being able to withstand it.

 Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was a damn mungo now. We were  _ surrounded  _ by mungos, so maybe that was what made George so nervous that he needed to take a break in the shelter of my arms. Whatever it was, he so rarely asked for help, and I wasn't going to deny it to him when he did. He was basically sleeping while walking when I'd finally picked him up and felt him instantly snuggle against the crook of my neck and fall asleep.

 Even though traversing the Commonwealth and Capital Wasteland had been a bitch, it was worth it to feel him warm and safe in my arms - I knew that he'd be taken care of with me. I didn't have to worry about it.

 If we could just find RJ, I wouldn't have to worry about anything at all, and that would be the best feeling.

 Approaching Diamond City was strange - there were dozens of empty buildings around us, but that didn't seem to be the city part at all. I never would be able to understand mungos and their logic - then again, I really preferred rock to wood over my head. I'd have been happy if Diamond City was in a cave.

 But it wasn't. It was some kind of massive field.

 Regardless, the walls were high and it seemed like they had enough security to hold up to the fact that they were touting the claim to be a safe zone. At the noise of gunfire and people talking, George stirred in my arms.

 "Put me down, Da." Indignant, as though his small arms hadn't stretched up for me to carry him. I happily complied, tousling his hair and giving him a small smile when he scowled up at me - sometimes, he reminded me entirely too much of RJ, with his sarcastic looks and the way that he pulled a frown when he was displeased. It was clear that the scarf-wearing Mayor for Life had rubbed off on him.

  The gates to the city were thankfully open, and I stayed close to George without giving him the indignation of me asking for his hand. I didn’t think that he’d take too kindly to me treating him like a kid - and honestly, I’d learned that you were capable of taking care of yourself at eight years old, if people let you. I wasn’t going to be some dirty mungo who took that spirit away from George now. 

  All that I wanted to do was get into the city and get our loot traded off. Maybe, if we could scrounge enough caps, we’d get a room and a hot meal. I liked the sound of it. I’m sure that George would appreciate a bed where I didn’t have to wander off to take watch and shoot the occasional raider. 

   “Compensating for something?” One of the guards scoffed at me as I stepped by - I had a pistol strapped to my hip and my shotgun slung over my shoulder. Everything else was in two big, canvas bags over my other shoulder. George carried his own bag, though it wasn’t anywhere near as heavy as mine. My eyes scoped out the city, blue hues careful and wary of what was going on - it only took a few moments for me to catch sight of the vendors at the end of the way. 

   “Stay close, George.” I wrinkled my nose, and he looked up at me with my bright blue eyes and a sharp but intelligent look. 

   “Right, Da. Too many mungos.” I wanted to laugh - somehow, George didn’t realize that I’d crossed the line into mungoville a long time ago… but I wasn’t going to correct him, I didn’t like to think about it myself.

   We strolled down, carefully ignoring the people who called out offering drugs and haircuts. I did take note of a robot, serving noodles. Maybe, if George wanted some, we’d swipe a bite to eat after we were done. But first - we needed to sell things. I hated carrying around this much gear… it meant that we looked vulnerable, and like we were worth attacking. I’d defend my loot to the death, but I didn’t want George to have to follow suit. We came to the end of the vendors, a woman with a suspicious expression on her face. 

   “Who are you? I don’t know you.” Her arms crossed haughtily over her chest, and she glared at me. “I don’t serve no synths here.”

   “Uh, synths?” I’d heard a few rumors about robot-men, but I sure as hell didn’t know why she’d think I was one. I blinked at her slowly, looking down at my wide, muscular frame. “Do I look like a machine to you, ma’am?”

  She stared at me, one hard blink after another, frowning. “That’s something a synth would say.”   
   “Oh, wise up, lady. We’re fuckin’ peop--”

   “George!” God, but RJ’s mouth had also rubbed off on him. His first words had been fuck, and I knew just who to thank for it.

    “Sorry, Da.” He had the grace to look embarrassed, and then continued his small rant. “We’re people.”

   The woman looked between us for a moment, her eyes still suspicious. It took me holding out my canvas sack and giving it a shake so she could hear metal clinking before she finally took a step back. “Fine. But don’t do anything suspicious, or else.”

  I could have said quite a few things to her, but I bit my tongue - it wouldn’t do me any good to scold George for his language if I went off calling her a bitch, after all. Instead, I opened my bag and showed her what we’d collected.

   My only problem was the fact that she didn’t have enough caps to take it all. We swapped for stimpaks, rad-x, radaway… as much as she had, and she was only too happy to unload it on us. In fact, with a small smile and George looking cute, I felt like we were getting a damn good deal on it. Personally, I was just disappointed that she didn’t have more - I couldn’t stand to see George sick during the storms in this place, and I didn’t know if we were going to have a secure roof over our head for the next one or not. 

   We still had half a bag with small side-arms and ammo, as well as George’s odds and ends. I turned to the next booth - it looked like gun wares. I had my eye on a new shotgun, if I could get one, or maybe a rifle… but there was a woman leaning in on the booth, her face serious and her mouth turned into something caught between a frown and a smirk.

   “Arturo, I  _ sold _ you that gun last week. You can’t upcharge me that much for it.” I stopped, my full lips parting slightly. I blinked once, very slowly… because, for as long as I’d been in the Capital Wasteland, and the short time I’d been in the Commonwealth, I’d never seen a woman so…

   Well…

   “Wow, Da. She’s pretty.” George’s voice wasn’t hushed, and I had to work to quickly snap my jaw shut as she turned to look at me. He’s voiced my opinion in the un-eloquent way that only a child could, and I was left silently wishing that he’d at least kept it down a notch. But he was right.

   She really,  _ really  _ was  _ pretty.  _

__  Her movement was sharp, and I was a bit surprised at the incredulousness that crossed her features - I watched her eyes sweep over me for just a moment before realizing that the voice that had spoken was quite a few pitches higher than my deep rumble. “Me? You think  _ I’m  _ pretty?” 

   I didn’t have time to stop George from grinning up at her, as though he was the most charming devil this side of the Wasteland. “Prettiest mungo  _ I’ve  _ ever seen.” 

    She looked confused at the word mungo, and I had to let out a small laugh, grabbing George by the arm and carefully pulling him so that he was at attention at my side. “Ah… sorry about him, ma’am. My boy doesn’t understand that talking to strangers isn’t the best thing.” I slid George a side-long glance, but his eyes were all for the woman in front of me, and all that I could do was let out a small, exasperated sigh and give her a nod. “Name’s Eclair… and this little man is George.” I nudged him with my hip, and he had the sense of mind to scowl at me, as though I was fouling up his game. 

   I noticed the small grin that played across her features - probably a bit more than I should have by the way that my chest nearly let out a rumble of delight at it. “I’m Delicia. And you,” she turned her eyes down to George and grinned at him, “You remind me of someone that I know… and you’re almost his height.” She laughed, and it was damn near like the sound of music to my ears. I’d never heard a thing so sweet, and it was still sparkling in her eyes when she turned her attention back to me. “Don’t worry about it, you don’t have to apologize for him. It’s nice to meet you both.”

   And she sounded like she actually meant it. More than that, the words that she’d said earlier struck at the back of my mind. It was a long shot… but…

   “You wouldn’t happen to know a sniper would you? Green scarf… blue eyes, slight. Foul mouth. His name’s RJ, uh,” I quickly corrected myself - he’d never let the mungos call him that. “Robert Joseph MacCready.” I touted his full name, remembering how he’d draw his chest up and act like he was taller than he was when he said it. I’d never met a man more proud of his name than RJ had been, and he had it memorized from the way that it was carefully stitched inside of his green scarf. 

  I didn’t expect the question to draw her up short. Her eyes narrowed for just a moment, thought flashing through them. When she leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest, it nearly drew my lips into a frown. “What do you want with Mac?”

  The fact that she didn’t ask me  _ who _ I was talking about, as well as the air of familiarity made a smile break across my features, rich and full of joy at the fact that she clearly did know who he was. Beside me, George danced back and forth, sensing the emotion radiating off of me. He grinned up at Delicia, and I could see it as a soft echo of my own smile.

   “You know where my Ma is?” He turned to me, and his bright blue eyes were full of a joy that I hadn’t seen in quite some time - George hadn’t seen RJ in so long, but he ached for him from the memories that he did have, and the stories that I told him every night. I put my hand out on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

   “We used to live in the same…” I teetered, unwilling to sell Lamplight out to anyone, even someone as lovely as the woman in front of me. “Settlement together, back when we were young. George and I recently left.” ~ I was not going to tell her that I abducted my own child, like a dirty Mungo. ~ Instead, I smiled softly, bringing George to stand in front of me so that I could put two arms on his shoulders and contain his excitement. “We’re both just looking for,” I searched for a word, and finally settled on the closest thing that I could, “Family. It’s the only thing that you can really count on in the world.” My lips twitched again, and my smile was a bit rueful for my words, I wasn’t sure  _ what _ you could count on, and I wasn’t even sure how RJ was going to react to the fact that I’d taken George from Lamplight - for all I knew, he wasn’t even going to  _ speak  _ to me, and I didn’t want to think about what that would do to my chest, to hear him tell me what I already knew; that I was the reason that Lamplight was around to begin with, to protect the kids from mungos who thought they knew right. 

   But maybe, if I could explain to him… if I could tell him that I  _ couldn’t  _ leave George there… maybe…

  I just knew that I had to try. I tried to keep the train of thought from flicking across my features, but I wasn’t sure that I contained it all behind a full lipped grin. 

   I didn’t know if it was my expression or my speech, but something on her features softened, the sternness giving way to an expression that I couldn’t quite read - mungos weren’t supposed to have those expressions, after all. But it was sweet, and beautiful, and it made my chest give a small squeeze of hope and  _ something _ . 

  “I can take you to where he’s staying.” She bit her lower lip for a moment, her head tilting before she continued on. “But if you try anything, and I mean  _ anything _ ,” her eyes flicked down to George and I could see her swallow her threat in lieu of his presence. Instead, she fixed me with her gaze and arched a brow - everything that I needed to know was in that look. If I tried anything, she’d make sure that it didn’t happen. 

   The only thing that I wanted to  _ try _ was to get RJ to understand why I’d taken George… and why I needed him. I brushed a thick strand of dark hair from my gaze, sweeping it behind my ear and fixed her with an earnest expression. “I can promise, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.” And that, at least, was the truth… and I could only hope by the softness in her eyes that she believed me. “How far is it to where he’s staying?” My eyes flicked upward - we had a few hours until the sun set. I’d promised George a bed, but I knew that he’d like it even more if I found his Ma first. 

  “We get to see Ma now?” And his voice held enough excitement to tell me that he wasn’t going to let us rest until we got to him. “You’re really nice, lady.” And he smiled up at Delicia, all blue eyes and baby cheeks… and I couldn’t do anything but to hold him closer to me - RJ would  _ have  _ to understand. He was my son, and I’d said it earlier: Family was the only thing that you could really count on in this world. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, I (EgoDominusTuus) fell in love with the thought of another Lamplighter all grown up. I picked Eclair as that Lamplighter, and built him in FO4 for the character creation engine. He had to have his own story, and Scarlet's Sole Survivor was the perfect love interest to bring it all together. We present to you their story <3


End file.
